Abbeyfeale crash victim
speaks of her long recovery

THE YOUNG Abbeyfeale woman who suffered serious brain trauma in a car crash outside the town nearly three years ago has spoken of her ongoing road to recovery.

Leanna Burke, 25, spent 11 days in a coma following the horrific crash near Duagh in October 2008. Since then, she has been confined to a wheelchair and has been left with significant speech problems.

However, she told the Limerick Leader that thanks to her ongoing treatment with Headway, who provide rehabilitation for people with acquired brain injury, her condition is improving by the day.

“I love coming in here, because it beats sitting at home looking at four walls. My memory is way better. It’s something to get up for.”

Leanna, who is the eldest of three siblings, lives at home in Abbeyfeale and travels in to Headway, who are based on Steamboat Quay in the city, for treatment five days a week.

Prior to her accident, she was training to be a beauty therapist and had hopes of working on a cruise ship. She said that thanks to her vocational therapy programme at Headway, she now intends on studying child psychology at the University of Limerick.

Headway are holding their annual fundraising ball at the Dunraven Arms Hotel in Adare next week.